Educational Leave
The term “Educational Leave” refers to the release from duties or time normally required of a full-time employee in carrying out his/her full load of assigned responsibilities in order to pursue professional development activities.
I. REQUIREMENTS FOR EDUCATIONAL LEAVE
A. State Requirements (23 NCAC 2D.0103)
- The employee is employed full-time on a 9, 10, 11 or 12 month basis.
- The employee must be under contract with the College for the fiscal year following the educational leave for a minimum period of nine (9) months.
- Educational Leave shall not exceed one college semester per fiscal year.
- An employee who fails to honor the contract (stipulated in Item 2 above) shall be required to repay the amount expended for the Educational Leave. If an employee fulfills a portion of the contract before failing to honor the contract, repayment shall be based on a pro-rata portion (e.g., if an employee works four (4) months of a 12 month contract, a repayment of 66.7% of the educational leave would be required).
- State funds may be used to pay employees salaries while they are on educational leave if the above requirements are met.
B. Faculty Member and Instructional Paraprofessional Employee Requirements
- The faculty member or instructional paraprofessional employee has been employed full-time by the College for at least three (3) academic years as a faculty member and/or instructional paraprofessional before the Educational Leave with pay is granted. All faculty members and instructional paraprofessional employees proposing programs of study and/or training requiring less than the entire semester or less than a full load as determined by the program shall be granted prorated contracts equivalent to the duration of the study and/or training.
- The employee has not received education leave within the last three (3) academic years.
- Educational Leave with pay will not exceed a period of ten (10) consecutive weeks during the summer semester. The granting of such Educational Leave will be for summer semester.
- In instances where faculty are in programs requiring residencies, educational travel or defense of thesis, an exception may be granted by the President upon recommendation by the Vice President of Academic and Student Services and Institutional Assessment. The faculty member must submit the request on the Request for Educational Leave form 30 days prior to the commencement of the leave. The amount of leave taken will be counted towards the ten (10) weeks allotted for the three (3) year period. All other requirements for Educational Leave outlined in this Policy must be met. There is a limit to the amount of leave that can occur at any one time without jeopardizing the quality of instructional services. Providing appropriate class coverage at no additional cost to the College as well as the quality of instruction and learning will be determining factors in granting the request. The dean will coordinate this coverage with the faculty member requesting the leave.
- The studies engaged in during an Educational Leave must be directly related to improving the faculty member’s or instructional paraprofessional employee’s competence in teaching or assigned duties and/or anticipated teaching or assigned duties.
- Requests for Educational Leave must be incorporated in the employee's approved Performance Enrichment Plan (PEP).
C. Staff Requirements
- The employee has been employed full-time by the College for at least three (3) fiscal years as a staff before Educational Leave with pay is granted.
- The employee has not received educational leave within the last three (3) fiscal years.
- An employee may request up to 150 hours in one fiscal year as Educational Leave.
- The studies engaged in during an Educational Leave must directly be related to improving the employee’s competence in the assigned and/or anticipated assigned duties.
- Requests for Educational Leave must be incorporated in the non-faculty employee’s approved Performance Enrichment Plan (PEP).
- An employee is expected to maintain all on-going work obligations and work with his/her supervisor to schedule Educational Leave.
II. PROCEDURE
A. Faculty Member and Instructional Paraprofessional
For budgetary purposes, a faculty member or instructional paraprofessional should submit Educational Leave requests by September 1st prior to the semester for which leave is intended to be requested. An application for Educational Leave must be submitted to the appropriate Dean no later than February 1st preceding the semester for which leave is being requested. Applications may be obtained from the College’s intranet site and must be approved by the appropriate Dean, the Vice President of Academic and Student Services and Institutional Assessment and the President.
Prior to the first day of Educational Leave, the faculty member or instructional paraprofessional employee requesting leave must submit the final program of study, including institution(s) to be attended, descriptions of prospective courses (or other educational activity) and a statement showing how these courses relate to the employee’s job responsibilities.
Within six (6) weeks of the conclusion of the granted leave, the faculty member or instructional paraprofessional employee will submit to his/her Dean a summary and evaluation of the leave experience along with an official transcript of any academic credits earned or certificate showing successful completion of the intended educational leave activity.
B. Staff
For budgetary purposes, an employee’s request for Educational Leave should be submitted by September 1st preceding the period which leave is intended to be requested. An application for Educational Leave must be submitted to the appropriate Dean/Director no later than two (2) months preceding the period which leave is being requested. Applications may be obtained from the College’s intranet site and must be approved by the appropriate Dean/Director, the appropriate Vice President and the President.
Prior to the first day of Educational Leave, the employee requesting educational leave must submit the final program of study including institution(s) to be attended, descriptions of prospective courses (or other educational activity) and a statement showing how these courses relate to the employee’s job responsibilities.
Within six (6) weeks of the conclusion of the granted leave, the employee will submit to his/her Dean/Director a summary and evaluation of the leave experience along with an official transcript of any academic credits earned or certificate showing successful completion of the intended educational leave activity.
Educational Leave is approved by the President. Under exceptional circumstances, provision under this policy may be waived by the President or his/her designee to meet SACS criteria or other critical needs. Approval of educational leave is subject to budgeting constraints.
